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Fitchburg finance board OKs more cash for Appleseed Center

By Alana Melanson, amelanson@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
01/15/2014 06:35:48 AM EST

FITCHBURG -- The City Council Finance Committee has agreed to renegotiate the amount of local room-tax revenue it offers annually to the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center, but some councilors want other, smaller communities that benefit from the center pay their share for its services.

The Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday night to raise the cap of $16,000 that it voted on in October to $32,000.

While the measure must still be approved by the full council to take effect, the vote was a relief to Johnny Appleseed Trail Association representatives, who were concerned that the previously voted upon cut would endanger the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center's operational hours and ability to effectively market the region for tourism.

The $16,000 amount that narrowly passed in October was nearly a 50 percent cut in how much the city has historically contributed to the Route 2 center, which is open nine hours per day, 363 days per year, sending tourists to various attractions throughout the region.

In October, the council voted to place an overall cap of $32,000 on donations that come out of room-tax revenue, evenly splitting the amount between the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center and Civic Days.

The rationale for the amount of $16,000 was that it represented 13 percent of the city's annual room-tax revenue, the same percentage contributed to the center by Fitchburg's sister city, Leominster, which contributes $35,000 annually.

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On Tuesday, by suggestion of Chairman Marcus DiNatale, the Finance Committee voted to raise the overall cap on donations from room-tax revenue to $40,000, offering a maximum of $32,000 -- which DiNatale figured to be the five-year average of the city's contributions -- to the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center, with the remainder going to Civic Days.

Before the October vote, Fitchburg had previously contributed 25 percent of its room-tax revenue to the center, until the council voted in 2012 to lower the amount to 20 percent and divert the other 5 percent to Civic Days.

Given that the incoming Great Wolf Lodge water resort is expected to generate more than $1 million annually in room-tax revenue for the city, councilors had felt that 20 percent of that amount would be far too much to contribute to the center when there are many other financial needs in the city.

David McKeehan, president of the Johnny Appleseed Trail Association, argued that it didn't make sense to drastically cut tourism marketing dollars for the city at a time when Fitchburg stands to gain from the momentum of Great Wolf Lodge and other economic-development opportunities that may arise as a result.

Phillip Cunningham, general manager of Great Wolf Lodge of New England, agreed, saying a majority of the 300,000 to 400,000 new visitors expected to come to the resort annually will likely pass through the center and be directed to other nearby attractions.

"Every city that Great Wolf builds in, there tends to be an opportunity for that municipality to piggyback off of the marketing aspects of what Great Wolf is doing to enhance the region," Cunningham said. "And we have seen, throughout all of our developments in our 12 other cities that we're in, that development rises, but it only rises when a city or a municipality or a bureau of some type helps to augment the marketing aspect."

Deborah Scheetz, clerk and treasurer of the Top Fun Aviation Toy Museum in downtown Fitchburg, said the museum spends little on marketing and has essentially been able to stay open thanks to referrals from the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center.

Given that only Fitchburg, Leominster and Westminster contribute any room-tax revenue to the center, Ward 5 Councilor Angelo Bisol asked whether any efforts had been made to reach out to smaller communities in the region that don't pay for the center's services but still benefit from them.

He suggested the other towns might each be able to pay a fee of $2,000, which collectively would amount to a great deal of money for the center.

Ward 3 Councilor Joel Kaddy agreed with Bisol's suggestion, saying many of those towns have a much higher income per capita than Fitchburg.

"We've stuck in with the Johnny Appleseed Center to help you keep it operable and successful," he said. "It's time for some of these other communities to step in and catch onto what you're trying to do."

McKeehan said such outreach has not been done to the smaller towns, and that many of them places "have nothing to send people to," a statement that some councilors disagreed with.

McKeehan said talks have been ongoing with Gardner to try to get the city to become a member.

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